Why?
by WaitingIdeas
Summary: What if Arnold started to wonder about the reasons behind Helga's behavior?
1. Through the Rain

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hey Arnold or any of its characters, they entirely belong to the original creators.

**Author Note:** Hi, this is my very first fanfiction, so I'll be open to any criticism for improvement. Thank you for taking the time to read my fanfiction and I hope you enjoy it.

**Chapter 1 - Through the Rain**

"Why do I have to be self sacrificing...," whispered a certain football head as he left a far too cuddly couple behind and walked into the weather that matched his mood.

"Why does Lila have to be so dense...?"

"Why did it have to be Lorenzo...? I mean seriously how did he pop up?"

"And lastly, WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE RAINING NOW!", exclaimed the usually calm young man, who at this particular moment was ticked off at the world and everything in it.

"Geez! It was sunny just this afternoon!"

As the boy continued to fling his tirade of questions into the air, someone suddenly interrupted him.

"Hey football head, quite your yelling and move over, you're not the only one getting rained on."

Arnold flinched at the unexpected sight, Helga was the last person he wanted to see at that moment.

She pulled something out of a shopping bag and handed it towards Arnold, it turned out to be an umbrella. Arnold was at a lost.

"Just take it before I change my mind," sneered Helga.

Shaken out of his reverie, Arnold said "Oh, uh-- thanks- ...Helga" as he slowly took the umbrella from Helga's grasp.

Helga quickly made a face as she angrily said, "Just _move_ it", and shoved past him. But before she turned the corner, she paused and quietly said, "You know...she's not worth it, you could do better" and gave him a small smile before she disappeared behind the building.

Taken aback, suddenly, the pain and the rain didn't bother Arnold so much, her words somehow made him feel calmer. Arnold looked up into the rain and back at the umbrella, and slowly opened it up to put over his head. He released a big breath and thoughtfully continued on his way home.

Not too far away, Helga hurries on towards her home, exclaiming under her breath, "I can't believe I gave him my old man's umbrella! What in the world am I suppose to tell him when I get home without an umbrella! What's more- I told him... ARGGHHH I can't believe I said that...how am I suppose to face him later! Maybe he won't take it seriously, yeah he wouldn't expect such words from me...yeah he'll forget about it...it'll be as if it never happened...yeah...UGHHHH...I need to talk to Phoebe..."

* * *

AN: Well, that was just the beginning. I hope you liked it. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. 


	2. Is it Possible?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Hey Arnold or its characters, they belong entirely to their creator, Craig Bartlett.

**Author Note: **Hi, thanks for all your great reviews! They are a huge help and encouragement! I am not at all sure about my own talents, so your reviews are just the thing I need to keep going and improving. Sorry, if I diverged from the characters' original personality too much. Truthfully, I haven't been able to watch any Hey Arnold episodes in a while since they don't play them that much anymore. If I get off, please tell me. Hope you enjoy and thanks again!

**C****hapter 2 - Is it Possible?**

Two young boys occupy a familiar attic. Arnold stands as he explains to his sitting best friend what happened earlier with Helga.

"What are you talking about Arnold," exclaims Gerald.

"I'm saying Helga was actually nice, her words amazingly enough made me feel at ease-"

"I can't believe it, what could Helga possibly have to say to make you feel that way"

"She said I could do better..."

"No way. . .", scuffs Gerald as he steadily shakes his head, "Are we really talking about the same Helga."

"She did," Arnold defensively responds. In his agitation he starts to pace, "It- it somehow made me feel better, I don't know, I guess coming from her it has more weight or- or meaning...I just- somehow feel better...like I could face the days ahead...that Lila's finally behind me...an old chapter of my life...that its been way past time for me to move on...do you understand anything am saying...", finished Arnold breathlessly.

"I agree that it's about time you've gotten over Lila, but the rest is ridiculous, are you sure Helga didn't hit you over the head or something...", answered Gerald skeptically.

In exasperation, Arnold pens Gerald with his eyes and exclaimed, "Gerald! I'm serious!"

"OK, ok...I get it...It just doesn't make any sense...I mean _Helga_..."

"I know, I don't understand it either, maybe she has a soft side that-"

"Arnold, this is Helga we are talking about..."

"Sigh, I don't know...I just don't know..."

"Man, lets just forget about it, ok..."

Arnold nods in return, "Yeah..."


	3. And the QUESTions Begin

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Hey Arnold or its characters, they belong entirely to their creator, Craig Bartlett.

**Author Note: **Finally, here is a longer chapter, it's not that long, but it's longer. Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 3 - And the QUESTions Begin**

"_What am I going to do!_", Helga thinks frantically, currently dreading every single second, fearful of who will come through the door next. As the tension continues to build around her, the rest of the classroom is bustling with excitement for the day's events. All are oblivious to her plight, except for one petite girl, Helga's best friend Phoebe, who is quietly watching Helga's body become more and more tense, but is smart enough to leave her alone for the moment. Suddenly, she notices Helga's whole body freeze and sees the reason for it standing right by the door, the one and only Arnold.

In his hand lies the object that could destroy Helga, the umbrella, a symbol of her kindness, a crack in her armor. Helga feels like having a heart attack at the sight of it, and it doesn't help that her body temperature is rising as her mind registers Arnold's movements toward her.

"_OH NO! What am I going to do! He's coming this way! I need to act natural, _right_, . . . I'll act natural . . . but . . . WHAT IS NATURAL! How am I suppose to act natural in such a situation, I've never been in this kind of problem before. Ohh, my love, such an_ annoying _goody goody_ _to the point I could use you as a punching bag, and yet that's what I love about you . . . ohh . . ."_

"Um, Helga . . . ," cuts in Arnold's nervous voice.

"_Crimey!" _thinks Helga as she jerks back in surprise, suddenly noticing Arnold right in front of her.

"What do you want football head," Helga sneers with an annoyed tone.

Arnold shifts uncomfortable, as he slowly tries to give Helga back her umbrella. "Um . . . , here is your umbrella, thanks for letting me use it," Arnold says with a stiff lopsided grin.

Helga just stares at the umbrella as she responds with more annoyance than what Arnold thought was normal, "That is _not_ my umbrella Arnoldoid."

"What are you talking about Helga, you gave it to me yesterday, remember?"

"_No . . . _, why would I be wasting my time on an annoying little football head like _you_."

"Helga, I distinctly remember you helping me and giving me that encour-"

Helga nearly loses her facade at his words and quickly cuts him off, "_Look bucko_, I didn't see you yesterday and I certainly didn't help you, you're probably imagining things, been over frying that puny football head of yours lately? Maybe you should have that brain of yours checked."

"But, Helga I remember-"

"For the last time football head, I did not see you out there in the rain yesterday, so leave me alone before I pound you," threatens Helga.

Arnold is about to respond when he realizes, "_Wait, how could she have known I was in the rain if she wasn't there . . . what is going on here . . . " _Arnold changes his response and instead says yieldingly, "All right Helga, I'll leave you alone now."

"Good," humphs Helga.

"What was that about?" asks Phoebe.

"Nothing, football head was just having delusions."

"Right," Phoebe responds with a knowing smile, aware of the real truth behind the situation.

As Arnold heads toward his seat with a confused expression, several questions and thoughts run through his mind, all of them related to Helga.

"I see that didn't go too well," Gerald says when Arnold takes his seat still with the umbrella in his possession. "Are you sure you weren't imagining things, you know I have a lot of faith in your sanity, but this all seems too bizarro."

"Gerald, I know what happened. Something is wrong here, . . . I think there is more to Helga Pataki than we know, and I'm going to find out what," Arnold states with conviction.

"Sigh, all right Arnold, just don't get too carried away," Gerald responds resignedly, knowing better than to argue.

Just then Mr. Simmons interrupts them, "Okay class, quiet down please, I have a new assignment for you all. You will be doing a group art project focused on an issue that concerns you and your partner. Now I've assigned you partners, so listen up please: Sid and Stinky, Sheena and Eugene, Arnold and Helga, Gerald and Phoebe . . . "

Arnold turns to face Gerald as he whispers, "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, what was Mr. Simmons thinking not pairing us up together."

"No, Gerald, this is perfect!"

"Arnold what are you talking about?"

"What I mean is this is the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about Helga."

Gerald just stares at Arnold for a second before he responds, "Right-, Arnold, just don't get yourself hurt putting yourself in her line of fire."

Arnold smiles as he says, "I won't Gerald, I just want to know more about this mystery surrounding her."

"Whatever you say, Arnold, whatever you say," responds Gerald, once again going along with another one of Arnold's schemes.

A few feet away sits Helga, who is well. . . . struggling at the news that she and Arnold will be partners.

"_Great, now Arnold and I are going to be partners, just what I need right now, what with him almost discovering my secret . . . but. . . . ohh, to be able to work with my beloved, it'll be heaven . . . unless I feel like pummeling him . . . "_

"Okay, now why don't you get together with your partner and discuss what you will be doing," Mr. Simmons instructs.

"I should go talk with Gerald about our project," says Phoebe.

Externally Helga says, "Go ahead Pheebs," but on the inside she is screaming, "_NO, don't go, I don't want to deal with football head alone."_

As Arnold takes a seat across from Helga, she gives him a slight glance and says nonchalantly "So . . . fixed that memory of yours . . . "

"Uh-, yeah, I must have gotten you mixed up with someone else."

Helga quickly looks back up at Arnold, and visibly relaxes. At the same time Arnold notices her reaction to his response, which just adds another question to his already long list about Helga.

"So got any lame brain ideas, football head."

"Actually, I was wondering if you had any."

"Right, I'd have a better idea than any you'd come up with, well. . .," Helga goes into deep thought and has an idea, but is unsure whether she should say it, so instead she says, "The school should have a better playing field than the shrimpy one we have now, there should be bigger space, and better equipment and . . ."

"Umm, that _is_ nice Helga, but I was hoping for something less about us and more about others, perhaps people less well off," Arnold offers tentatively.

"_That is exactly what I was thinking. Ohh, my love, I knew we were soul mates, you can read my mind so well . . . ," _yet Helga scuffs as she responds,"Really, what exactly do you have in mind."

"How about . . . ," Arnold takes a moment to think when he finally lands on something, "orphans."

"_Ohhh, what a lovely idea, always thinking of others," _is what she thinks, but what she says is, "Fine, might as well as you obviously aren't interested in a better playing field."

Arnold gives Helga a sincere smile as he responds, "Thanks Helga." At the sight of the smile, Helga internally swoons, "_Maybe this project won't be so bad after all."_

After school as Arnold and Gerald heads home, Arnold realizes, "Oh, I forgot the umbrella. You go on ahead, I'll be right back."

"All right, just hurry it up," replies Gerald.

Arnold runs back to the classroom and is about to go inside, when he spots Helga near his desk. He quickly hides behind the doorframe. Helga glances about to see if anyone is around, and then quickly grabs the umbrella from Arnold's desk. "Bob is going to be glad to finally get you, now he can finally stop complaining at me."

"_I knew it! That was Helga, but why all this pretending. What is she hiding, really, who is Helga Pataki. This just confuses things further, I'm no closer to understanding her."_


	4. Strange Events

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hey Arnold or its characters, they belong entirely to their creator, Craig Bartlett.

**Author Note:** Sorry this chapter took so long. I wasn't sure how I should bring this chapter out and I'm still not really satisfied with it, but I didn't want to make you all wait too much longer. Thank you for all your _GREAT_ reviews, they are all so encouraging! I'm still open to _constructive_ criticism for improvement. Thank you again for reading!

**Chapter 4: Strange Events**

In an empty lot an intense game of baseball is ensuing between two groups of kids from P.S. 118. A baseball has just been hit and is currently flying towards left field straight into the reach of the outfielder standing there. Closer and closer it comes, until it lands smack . . . on the ground right in front of the outfielder Arnold, who still has yet to notice the ball in front of him.

"Hey Arnold! Throw me the ball!" yells Gerald from second base.

Shaken out of his reverie, Arnold finally notices the ball and clumsily bends down to grab it, and miraculously manages to throw it to Gerald in time to tag the batter out. After he throws the ball back to the pitcher, Gerald swiftly runs over to Arnold and says, "Arnold, come on, snap out it! You need to focus! We're going against the fifth graders here!"

"I'm sorry Gerald, it's just . . ."

"I know, Helga," states Gerald with exasperation, "You've been staring at home plate the whole time, considering how you don't notice the batters actually hitting the ball or the umpire's calls, the only person you could be staring at over there is Helga."

"Is it that obvious!"

"Yeah! For me that is, you're lucky everyone else is too absorbed into the game to notice, but now that you've completely missed that last ball, they might start to."

Gerald glances over at the batter and realizes everything is set, "All right, got to get back to second base, just focus will you Arnold!"

"Ok," nods Arnold with a slight smile in return as Gerald runs back.

"All right, I will focus," quietly says Arnold to himself. He starts to intensely stare at the batter noting his every move, while his body tenses up for action. Unfortunately he caught sight of pink and his eyes suddenly and unwillingly shifts toward the catcher with her blond pigtails sticking out from behind the mask. At the sight of Helga his focus ebbs away as he continues to stare at her.

"_Strange . . . for someone who is so tough, she certainly likes pink, such a girly color. I wonder why she likes that color so much, that is practically the only color I've ever seen her really wear . . ."_

While Arnold is lost in his thoughts about Helga _once again_, the batter manages to hit the ball and it goes flying through the air into the sun and swiftly falls straight down and collides with a football, a football head that is, smoothly knocking him off his feet. The last thing Arnold is conscious of as he blanks out is Gerald yelling with fear and anxiety in his voice, but he also notes another's voice calling his name, a girl's voice, and actually, it sort of sounds like Helga's, but that can't be because she never spoke like that towards him before . . . and suddenly everything is black and Arnold feels tied down, but he hears that same girl's voice calling him, a soothing tone mixed with concern. It is so alluring . . . suddenly Arnold's eyes flutter open. _"Who . . . ," _thinks Arnold as his vision clears.

"Oh, you're awake," exclaims a little girl's voice.

Arnold shifts his gaze towards the voice and sees a strangely familiar little girl with a pink bow in her hair sitting on her knees beside him. He is about to ask her who she is when he notices that they both are on some type of play mat. His confusion grows as he starts to look around the place, noticing the little book shelves, toys, and most of all the little children being watched by perky adults. _"This looks like my preschool . . . " _thinks Arnold in wonderment. He returns his gaze to the little girl in confusion and finally asks, "Who are you? Where am I?"

She just smiles sweetly at Arnold and says, "Arnold you are so dense, can't you see the obvious."

"_Huh!"_

Suddenly everything seems to whirl around him, he is at the baseball game again and there stands Helga helping him up, saying in irritation, "Would you get up football head," and then he feels that everything is going to be okay. As he swiftly gets up everything washes away with a blinding light and when the light clears away he sees a whitewash ceiling with bright lights. Then he hears a distant intercom, "Dr. Willis head to Room 14B . . . ," making him realize that he is in the hospital. As he blinks in an effort to clear not only his vision, but his mind, he wonders, _"What was that about? Was it just a dream?"_ Then a trembling sigh containing his name breaks into his consciousness.

He moves his eyes toward the side and there before him was an unfamiliar sight. In a chair beside his bed sat Helga staring at her clasped hands with what looks like concern engraved on her face, in fact, she looked like she was ready to cry. Arnold had to do a double take on this one, he couldn't help but wonder if he was still dreaming.

"Helga," Arnold tentatively says.

In one incredibly fast moment, Helga jerks her head up and jumps out of the chair, while her eyes enlarge into saucers.

"ARNOLD!" she yells in a high-pitched voice. She then immediately covers her mouth and just as quickly pulls them down. And before you can blink your eye, her whole body language changes into hostility and in her trademark tone says, "What are you looking at football head?"

Of course, you can imagine the strange and confused expression painted on Arnold's face at this _unique_ reaction. Luckily at this moment the door creaks open and in walks grandpa.

"What was all that noise? Oh! Hey, Shortman! I see you're finally awake," and then he notices Helga and an expression of surprise crosses his face, but it promptly vanishes and he says to Helga, "See I said you didn't need to worry, hard heads run in the family."

"Humph, who said I was worried," Helga responds as she looks away.

Grandpa turns back towards Arnold and says to him, "You should be thankful to this little lady here, she is the one who ran and got help for you."

Arnold quickly turns to look at Helga in astonishment, who is currently far too interested in the wall to be aware of anything else. She also has a rather faint blush gracing her cheeks, but Arnold, of course, does not notice.

"_She helped me again! Has Helga always been there for me?"_

"Umm, thank you Helga," says Arnold with complete gratitude.

She finally turns her attention from the wall to look at Arnold and says, "You better be football head and don't you think anything of it. I just didn't want to do the art project alone! So you better be pulling your weight, don't even think I'm going do let you do any less than your share!"

Arnold responds with a smile in his voice, "All right Helga."

"Criminey, I've wasted enough time, I'm leaving now! And don't you forget we are suppose to meet in front of the orphanage on Saturday!"

"I won't Helga," replies Arnold.

"If you do forget, you'll be having an appointment with Old Betsy!" yells Helga as she huffs out the door.

Grandpa chuckles and says, "She reminds me of Pooky for some reason . . . hmm . . . anyway how are you feeling Shortman?"

"I feel fine actually."

"Good, here drink this," says Grandpa as he hands Arnold a glass from the bed stand full of a colorful and bubbly concoction. Arnold gingerly takes it from his Grandpa.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, Pooky made it for you and said that you should drink it when you wake up, I think it could be medicine," absently replies Grandpa.

"Umm . . . , I think I'll save it for later."

"Ok, just make sure you finish it all."

"Right."

"_Maybe I'll finish it down the sink, but with all that bubbling stuff I might need to flush it down the toilet."_

"Where is Grandma anyway?"

"Oh, just playing the doctor and helping anyone in need."

Suddenly they hear a man shriek not too far away, "AHHH! Help! Get this lady away from me!"

Grandpa smiles and flicks a glance towards the door as he says, "Yup, that's my Pooky," and returns his attention back to Arnold, "The doctor said that you'll be fine, you'll just have a slight bump on the side of your head for a few days. You'll only need to stay the night, just to be safe, and then you'll be released tomorrow."

"Good," sighed Arnold with relief.

"Oh yeah, Gerald is here too, he just stepped out to call his family. In fact," Grandpa pauses as he tilts his head towards the side, "I'm not sure where that little lady popped out from, I walked out of here only a few minutes ago to speak with the doctor. Oh well," he shrugs with indifference, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for people to appear out of nowhere.

"_Wha . . . ?"_

The door opens and in walks Gerald.

"Arnold," he exclaims and rushes to the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Just fine Gerald."

Gerald glances at Grandpa and says, "You were right, hard heads really do run in the family."

Grandpa nods agreement and smiles, "Yup, it comes from our diet. People really shouldn't eat raspberries, it makes them soft." Just then they hear another shriek and Grandma's voice yelling, "You just need to put this on your head and you'll feel better!"

Grandpa chuckles as he says, "I better go see how Pooky is doing. I'll be back."

As soon as Grandpa leaves the room, Gerald says, "I saw the strangest thing today Arnold."

"Hm?"

Gerald leans in as if it were a conspiracy and whispers, "When you were hit by the baseball I heard a scream and turned back in time to see Helga's face full of fear and worry directed at _you_, but then she quickly whirled around and ran off. I think she's the reason you got help so quickly."

"She is! Grandpa told me she was the one who got help for me."

"Okay Arnold, you've made a believer out of me. So-," Gerald takes on a serious expression, "what do you want to do next?"

"Do next?"

"Yeah, come on Arnold, you've must of already formed some type of plan."

"Actually, not yet . . . "

"Seriously, that's a first."

"Yeah, well, Helga is complicated."

"You can say that again."

Arnold bends his head in thought, "Hmm . . . you know we could follow her after school."

Gerald raises one eyebrow and says, "Arnold why can't any of your plans be normal."

Arnold just shrugs his shoulders in response.

"All right, but only after you've gotten all your rest."

"Don't worry Gerald."

"Sigh, if I don't who knows what kind of trouble you'd get yourself into."

* * *

AN: I'll try to get the next chapter up within a decent time frame. 

Responses to Reviewers:

**acosta pérez josé ramiro:** Thank you for reviewing! Your review is so insightful!

**Anita:** Thank you for reviewing and thank you for your complements!

**blueskyshymoon08:** Thank you for all your reviews! I feel honored that such a great writer bothers with my little fic.

**C****ool:** Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**GoOd-BaDz2:** Thank you for reviewing! Your story truly is entertaining!

**Inumaru12:** Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, they are really encouraging!

**itsingi(carter can have you):** Thank you for the great review! I wonder if my stories can become as in depth as yours.

**Lady G-Unit:** Thank you so much for your support! I hope this chapter came out to your liking. Sorry, but they are in fourth grade. If you want you probably ignore some of the references and pretend that they are in another grade.

**lightbird:** Thank you for your review! I hope I learn to develop my stories as well as yours!

**Miss Nerf the Pink Litterbug: **Thank you for reviewing though you weren't feeling well. I hope you are feeling better now, though you probably are since you reviewed a while ago!

**Number6:** Thank you for your constructive criticism! I didn't realize it came off that strongly. I wish I could read your fiction, but I can't read Spanish.

**Princess Tien Yun Kimura:** I sincerely thank you for your concern. Its true that criticism stings, and I don't much care for the hateful ones, but I'd rather get some constructive criticism so that I can improve. If I want to get better, I'll need to learn to deal with these stings, so that maybe one day these same stings may change into praises.

**puppiescute a.k.a. Mic Mic:** Thank you for the review and nice insight!

**Sakuranbo-chan:** Thank you for the review! I really do enjoy how your fiction is developing so far!

**samie-the-authoress:** Thank you for the encouragement!


	5. Spy Time

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hey Arnold or its characters, they belong entirely to their creator, Craig Bartlett.

**Author Note:** Here is another chapter for you all! Sorry for putting this pathetic chapter up for you to read, but I do hope you enjoy it to some extent. I'm sorry things have been rather slow, but things should pick up soon, at least I think it will. Thank you again for all your WONDERFUL reviews!

**Chapter 5: Spy Time  
**

It's a fresh sunny morning, as the warmth of the sun chases the chill from the night away. The birds are singing, while all else is quiet and calm. And there beside a building hides two-, wait hides. Yup, its Arnold and Gerald huddling by the side of Helga's home overdressed in the typical detective outfit. The full length trench coat, oversized hat, and dark sunglasses.

"Arnold, its kind of hot don't you think," whispers Gerald.

"Yeah, we should ditch these outfits right," replies Arnold as he gives Gerald a sidelong glance.

"You think," answers Gerald sarcastically.

Just as they finish getting rid of their detective clothing, out walks Helga slamming the door shut. Arnold and Gerald quickly get in step behind her all the while trying to hide behind anything they can find along the way. Phoebe soon shows up and starts walking beside Helga, soon becoming engaged in a consuming conversation, actually Helga' giving orders while Phoebe writes them down intently.

Helga and Phoebe reach the bus stop and continue to talk, while Arnold and Gerald watch them through the gaps of several trash cans. Soon the bus arrives and the girls quickly boards the bus, but the boys don't move an inch, too afraid to be seen. They stay put and continue to watch until the bus is out of sight.

"Ummm...Arnold, that was the bus right," states Gerald.

"Right."

"That bus was our ride to school right."

"Right."

"Then how are we suppose to get to school!"

Arnold's eyes widens in realization and then he says with a sheepish expression, "We better make a run for it then."

Gerald sighs in exasperation as they take off running towards school. They get to school out of breath with no bus in sight, having dropped off its passengers long ago. There were still kids making their way to school, but there was no sight of Helga or Phoebe.

"We just started spying and we already lost her, unbelievable," gasps Gerald as he continues to regain his breath.

"Come on Gerald, lets go find her," pants Arnold.

They slowly make their way to school in search for pink and wide blond pigtails. As they enter the building, Arnold feels something smack against his head causing him to stop. He reaches up into his hair and pulls out something wet and sticky.

"A spit wad," whispers Arnold in surprise, "_Helga must be close by."_

He soon hears a snicker and turns to his left to see Helga leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and the guilty straw in her hands. Phoebe standing close by looking like the right hand girl she is.

"What's the matter football head, got something in your hair?"

But before Arnold could respond Helga snickers some more and walks away with Phoebe trailing behind.

"At least she spared us the search expedition," remarks Gerald.

"Yeah," agrees Arnold as they continue to follow Helga to class. He observes her walking or swaggering to class. She has a rather different demeanor from this morning he notices in surprise.

"_She actually had a more feminine walk this morning._"

As they entered the classroom, Arnold and Gerald decided to sit behind Helga and Phoebe so to get a better view of her movements and also to avoid her spit wads. The rest of the school time remained the same as any other day, except for the fact that Arnold and Gerald kept staring at Helga. Though they kept an attentive watch over Helga there were moments when she would suddenly disappear and reappear. For some reason they would always find Brainy knocked out somewhere after these disappearances. Finally, school ended and they were allowed to leave.

"Maybe we'll be able to see more of who Helga is outside of school away from the surroundings we normally see her in," states Arnold.

"Perhaps," reply Gerald.

So they continued to follow Helga where ever she went and Helga went everywhere, almost as if she was trying to give anyone following her a hard time. She went to the movies, playing field, game center, stores, food places, and of course a few good hours watching live wresting matches. Arnold and Gerald were having a hard time keeping up with her. It was difficult keeping her pace and at the same time stay hidden or at least inconspicious.

"Is Helga on a sugar rush today or something," asks Gerald, out of breath.

"I don't know," breathlessly replies Arnold.

They've just followed Helga to a park, at a rather rapid pace, and is finally allowed a moment to collapse behind some bushes. Helga is a few feet ahead on a bench, seemingly brooding.

"I wander what she is thinking about," thoughtfully says Arnold as he gazes at Helga between the bushes' leaves.

"Who knows what Helga thinks about, maybe she's plotting a new way to annoy you," replies Gerald.

"_She seems a bit lonely there by herself."_

Arnold is still watching Helga when she suddenly pulls out a little pink book.

"_Pink again?"_

Helga soon pulls out a pen as well and cracks open the book. She starts to intently write several lines inside it, lost in thought.

"_That book seems familiar. . ."_

Something sparks in his memory as words start to float in his mind, "_H is for the head I'd like to punt . . ."_

"Seriously Arnold, we haven't seen anything unusual from Helga. I think spying is not getting us anywhere," states Gerald, cutting off Arnold's thoughts.

"Huh, oh, yeah maybe you're right, but lets just finish spying on her today," replies Arnold as he turns to look at Gerald.

"All right."

Arnold returns to watching Helga, but she has already put away the book as well as the pen and is on the move again.

"Come on Gerald, its time to go."

"Ok, lets do this."

To their disappointment or relief, Helga has returned to her house. She is about to enter when Big Bob sees her through the window. He yells out to her, "Hey, Olga!"

"Its Helga dad," states Helga exasperated.

"Oh right, whatever. Olga is here and your mom is cooking a meal, so hurry on inside and help out."

A depressed expression crosses Helga's face as she mutters, "Che, why should I help out."

Arnold becomes startled when he catches sight of her sad face before she disappears inside the house.

"_What was that expression? Why did she look so upset for a second there? Is the reason for her behavior behind that expression?"_

"We're not going to get anymore spying done now. Let's go Arnold."

"Okay. This day has flown by."

"Yeah, with us chasing after Helga all day," laughingly replies Gerald.

Arnold gives Helga's home one last glance hoping that maybe it will reveal something to him, but it does not. It continues to impassively stands in place, helping to guard whatever secrets Helga may hold. With a sigh, Arnold follows Gerald away from Helga and her mysteries.


End file.
